There have been many, many complaints voiced about Chicago’s offensive play-calling this year, especially since Mitchell Trubisky took over at quarterback. With that in mind, I’m going to look at trends by down and distance in those 4 games. All statistics come courtesy of the fantastic NFL play finder from Pro Football Reference.

1st down

This should surprise absolutely nobody, but the Bears have been comically imbalanced on 1st down since Mitchell Trubisky started playing. They’ve had 95 first downs and called runs on 68 of them, good for 72% of the time (if you look only at the 1st 3 quarters, when game situations don’t impact calls as much, those numbers change to 54 runs on 70 plays, running 77% of the time).

Despite the predictability, they’ve actually been fairly successful running on average, picking up 4.5 yards per attempt, though it’s worth noting that drops to 3.0 when you remove two Jordan Howard runs of 50+ yards. 12 of those runs (18%) have lost yardage, and 20 gained 1 yard or less (29%). This has left the Bears consistently behind the chains, a problem that we’ll see compound on 2nd and 3rd down.

On the rare occasions the Bears did pass, good things tended to happen. Between passes, sacks, and scrambles, the Bears averaged 7.8 yards per play on these 27 plays, though it’s worth noting that is also skewed in the positive direction by a few big plays. Still, 10 of these (37%) went for 8 yard gains or more, which puts the offense well ahead of the chains. Part of that success undoubtedly comes from catching defenses off guard, but it would be nice to see them gain a little more balance on 1st down to hopefully continue keeping defenses from honing in on the run too much.

2nd down

When it comes to 2nd down, context is needed. A 3 yard gain is great on 2nd and 2, pretty good on 2nd and 5, and awful on 2nd and 10. With that in mind, I split the data into 4 groups based on the distance required to get a 1st down. The table below shows the results.

Uggh, that is hideously ugly.

First, just look at the run/pass splits. The Bears are basically running if it’s 2nd and 10 or less and throwing if it’s 2nd and 11+. Given that predictability, it’s hardly surprising that the offense is being comically ineffective on 2nd down.

I really don’t have any more complicated analysis than that. The predictability on 2nd down is stifling the offense. There is no context when they get any sort of balance between the pass and run, which makes it too easy for defenses to figure out what’s coming. It should be noted that these are all small sample sizes, but overall it’s just ugly.

3rd and 4th down

I grouped 3rd and 4th down together because the 4th down sample size was too small to do on its own, and on both downs the objective is the same: pick up a 1st down. Because of that, I ignored yards per play, and just focused on how often they met that objective and moved the chains.

And you thought 2nd down was ugly.

Here’s the first thing to notice: look at how often the Bears end up in 3rd and long because of the poor play calling on 1st and 2nd down. They have had 3rd or 4th and short only 4 times in Trubisky’s 4 games, while more than 2/3 of their 3rd or 4th down plays have come needing 7 or more yards to pick up the first down.

That sets the offense up to fail, and it’s unsurprising to see that they have failed indeed. I actually want to highlight how (relatively) effective the offense has been in these difficult situations. They have picked up 11 1st downs on 35 3rd and long plays, a 31% clip that would actually not rank last in the NFL for 3rd down conversions including all plays.

Of course, the Bears have been hideously ineffective on 3rd and short or medium situations, picking up only 6 1st downs on those 17 plays (35%). There should be a much bigger difference in efficiency between those two groupings. Once again, it’s worth noting that these are small sample sizes, and it might spread out over time as we get more data.

Once again, you can look at imbalance in play calling, though it’s a bit more understandable here given that you generally need to throw to pick up a 1st down if you need more than 3 or 4 yards. Still, it would be nice to see the Bears run a little more often (perhaps out of shotgun after spreading the defense out) on 3rd and 3-4. Right now, teams basically know that a pass is coming on 3rd down unless Chicago miraculously gets into 3rd and short or decides to run a draw and punt.

Thus it’s unsurprising that teams are ready for it when the Bears do pass on 3rd down, making it difficult to do so successfully. Trubisky has either been sacked (16%) or forced to scramble (18%) on more than 1/3 of his 3rd down dropbacks, and his completion percentage when he does throw on 3rd down is only 50%. You can’t consistently put any offense in 3rd and long and expect success, much less an offense with a rookie quarterback and poor collection of pass targets.

Lessons learned

Chicago’s offense is agonizingly predictable, rendering it comically ineffective. I don’t think this comes as a revelation to anybody, but I think it’s useful to see the numbers match what our eyes have told us. Out of the 9 data sets I highlighted above, there is only one where the Bears do not either run or pass at least 70% of the time. That comes on 3rd and 1-2 yards to go, which is a nice 50/50 split with a tiny sample size of 4. So for any situation except 3rd and short, opposing defenses know what the Bears are going to do at least 70% of the time, and that’s before you look at the predictability based on personnel groupings and how they line up.

What’s more, I’m fairly confident when I say that this predictability is coming directly from John Fox rather than offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. I say that because it was not an issue last year when I did the same breakdowns of Loggains’ play calling. Despite a MASH unit of offensive linemen, 3 different quarterbacks, and a rotating cast of (mostly inept) wide receivers, he maintained a decent balance in most situations and kept an offense performing above its talent level.

Chicago’s current offensive approach is simply not a valid one. John Fox either needs to let Dowell Loggains go to work or Ryan Pace needs to tell Fox to pack his bags.

Related

McCarthy blitzes the line all day long. Whether it’s a run or whether it’s the kid. All day long.

leftcoastdave

27-12. We hold the Pack to four field goals.

DaCoaches Mustache

I don’t see how the packers score next week. Hundley is a huge piece of shit.

willbest

strip sack? ST F up.

SC Dave

The Bears have (well, hopefully HAD) a penchant for making practice squad guys look like All-Pros, so there is that.

Irish Sweetness

Fumble return.

Bear Instincts

1.This article has confirmed what I have been arguing for most of the season (this predictability is coming directly from John Fox rather than offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains)
2. His coaching philosophy has lead to this predictability and disqualifies him from being able to groom MT10 in the QB of the future
With that being said when are we going to start analyzing replacement options for Fox?

DaBearsBlog

Well he’s about to go 7-9 or 8-8 and keep his job. So next year maybe?

SC Dave

Low bar, Jeff. Let’s shoot for 10-6, eh? Dreamers gotta dream.

But we’ll blow at least one game we should win (in Detroit, perhaps?) and we ain’t beating Philly. On the other hand, we weren’t beating Pittsburgh either.

Bear Instincts

What is the argument for keeping his job after going 7-9 or 8-8?

Scharfinator

They were 3-13 last year. If you manage to net 31% more wins, it’s unlikely you’ll get canned.

Bear Instincts

Chicago football is changing. It’s no longer about the run game and a great defense. Fox was the coach for the Bears in 1987. It is 2017 and the path to multiple championships is only possible because of a competent QB/Offense.

Denver has a great defense but a QB carousel. A 2nd year QB just dismantled them. Fox is not the man to groom MT10 into the QB that will lead the Bears to the promised land. He never was.

If he is not getting an extension at the end of the season why give him a trial year?
What can he prove in 1 year that will justify him getting an extension that he cant do right now?

Scharfinator

I don’t disagree with you. I’m just saying that the reality typically mimics what I said.

SC Dave

Funny, looks to like it’s getting back to tradition – tough defense and a solid running game.

Bear Instincts

I love out bully defense and smash mouth run game that makes other teams cry. however i recognize and acknowledge that we need more than that to win. just look at Seattle. we could be them.

Irish Sweetness

A smash-mouth run game doesn’t mean running it 70%-80% of the time though.
That’s silly football, and I think we can all agree on that.

Irish Sweetness

And Jake Delhomme …?

CanadaBear

Lovie got canned at 10-6. If the GM wants you gone …

I’m guessing you’re correct that Foxy stays with a few more wins.

Bear Instincts

Foxy stays if Pace decides:
1.that he himself is to blame for not providing enough weapons to win
2.he likes what he has seen from Fox (culture change+defense) and wants continuity
3.the team is close to winning and only needs this draft & FA to get over the hump and be a force to be reckoned with

Irish Sweetness

Lovie. 10-6. Gone.

Scharfinator

Different situation – everyone knew Lovie was stale.

SC Dave

His team does not quit. He built that.

Once his raw rookie QB grows up, I think he deserves one last shot (2018) at a ring.

willbest

I will grant Fox that. His team didn’t quit. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you can win it all.

SC Dave

I don’t disagree, but there is still half a season left. I’ll withhold my judgment until then.

Bear Instincts

Pro: he installed a culture. he rebuilt the defense to possible be a contender in 3 yrs. he started from nothing and now has them looking like a professional football team

Con: MT10 development. the offense is predictable and lacking. in game decisions are mind-boggling

Just look at the Cheese and Rodgers. Look at what a QB can do for your team. how many playoffs and championships have they been to because of Rodgers?

How many playoffs and championships have we been to because of our run game and great defense?

The development of MT10 takes precedence over everything thing else.

SC Dave

The 2006 Bears went to the Super Bowl without a great QB.

The 2010 Bears made the NFC Championship game without a great QB.

While both those teams had good RBs (particularly 2010), neither was as good as Jordan Howard. Of course, 2006 did have an insane Devin Hester which is something we don’t have.

MT is not Aaron Rodgers, and won’t be. Shit, no one is like that guy.

madscout12

And both the ’06 and ’10 Bears were not in the playoffs the following year.

I thought more like uninspired. Come out flat, get behind, a couple of TO’s, deja vu, game over. Under Nessman they definitely quit. Under Foxy, not really quit but close to sleep walking. I guess I’m splitting hairs but I’m trying to be fair to Foxy (still would like to see a change).

leftcoastdave

You keep forgetting that I told you before the start of the season that the floor is 9-7. That is baked in because of dominance in the trenches.

O ye of little faith.

Bear Instincts

The o-line is hurt. MT10 is a rookie making rookie mistakes. No WR’s. Fox has final say over the offense as the performance has shown. 9-7 is the the goal for the season.
They have the potential to sneak into the playoffs as a wildcard team but the offense will drag them down

Tortured Bear fan

in the long run for QB’s development sake, it is necessary cut Foxy

SC Dave

The unspoken assumption of all this is that you get someone better.

Tortured Bear fan

Or keeping as it is right now, going nowhere.

SC Dave

Patience, grasshopper.

Irish Sweetness

Chucky can do it.

SC Dave

Data said he’s “fairly confident”, which I would not read as a confirmation.

Yeah, I have absolutely no smoking gun proof of that. I’m just saying it doesn’t match Loggains’ tendencies from last year.

The confirmation from this article is that the offense is incredibly predictable (which matches the eye test). Anything beyond that is just speculation, even if it is semi-educated.

It’s all part of the plan

This made me laugh and shake my head at the same time:

Official Stories of the NFL this week:

Mike McCarthy: I believe in Brett Hundley
Matthew Stafford, Marvin Jones lead Lions to 30-17 win over Packers
Ben McAdoo: Eli Manning is our quarterback
Josh Gordon admits using drugs or alcohol “probably every game”
John Harbaugh has “no doubt” offense can be very successful
49ers sticking with same QB plan this week
Martavis Bryant back to working with starters in Steelers practice
Papa John’s to Nazis: Don’t buy our pizza

SC Dave

The world grows more and more bizarre, eh?

It’s all part of the plan

The part that made me snort iced coffee was the Nazi article just sitting there. That’s where we are now.
Packers qb troubles
NY coaching hot seat
49ers easing Jimmy G into the offense
Annnnnnnnnnnd……..
Papa John’s to Nazi’s: Don’t eat our pizza

willbest

Apparently, when you say “don’t protest the flag” which sounds like something a nazi might say, you have to follow it up with “don’t be a nazi”. Because we aren’t allowed to examine your comments rationally, and unless you tell us you don’t support nazism we wouldn’t know.

It works the other way too. For example, Google is installing a big brother type infrastructure and designing an AI to run it all but their motto is “Don’t be evil”, so we have no choice but to assume they aren’t evil.

It’s all part of the plan

I just thought it was funny that’s all.

Cockney Kirk

Hundley holds the ball WAY WAY too long
He doesn’t see the play develop
He often misses his checkdown guy when he gets seperation
He is hesitant because he doesn’t know his wideouts that well
He loves to pull that ball down and plays like he’s still at UCLA.

To keep them quiet he used the Mossad
A tactic in Hollywood not so odd
pushing up skirts and squuezin the tits
just keep pumpin out the hits
Big Bad Harvey the stereotype jew
down with the libs and his PI krew
loved to eat clam no matter how raw
the rest of the world wants to remove his jaw

It’s all part of the plan

That’s one hardcore dude.

Irish Sweetness

Mossad. Operating with carte blanche from America since Day One. And Harvey uses them. Go figure.

Cormonster

Spacey checked into the same rehab as Weinstein. They should put them in the same room and do a reality show Odd Couple. Weinstein can play the slob Oscar and rape young chicks, while Spacey plays the neat Felix who rapes young boys.

The first couple episodes can be remakes. There’s the one where important company is coming over, and Felix has to sneak a young 14 year old boy out of his room.

The next one is where Kevin knocks Harvey’s favorite potted plant off the balcony and he has to hurry and find an exact replica before Harvey gets home. Maybe Weiner can make a guest appearance in a later episode.

paradise papers showed nike hides taxes
keeps its books clean like it waxes
transfers the swoosh to a CV ethereal
charges itself fees immaterial
selling the IP to ghosts in the shell
slave labor sews jerseys in places like hell
cant even produce a quality product
nba jerseys tear like kleenex construct
the millions and millions live with the swiss
and the nike lawyers and accountants take the piss

It’s all part of the plan

One of your best, I’m imagining a Beastie Boys feel to it

Juat shut up, shut up
…You had me at Kleenex construct. You had me at Kleenex construct.

AlbertInTucson

DaBearsBlog @dabearsblog
“I will take a Super Bowl win and am willing to be awful for 5 years after that.”

Easy choice because, as Bear Fans, we are already USED TO dealing with 5 years of awful.

Or more.

willbest

As a first instinct, most people negotiate things they don’t really care about in exchange for things they do.

Honestly, this is the first stretch of awful in my time as a serious fan (dates back to roughly 2003. I’ve always been a “Bears fan,” but was never that into football until I started playing Madden in high school and learned to appreciate the strategy aspect of the game. Even then, I never lived in Chicago until 2006, so I couldn’t see the Bears much).

2014-2016 were awful years. For the decade prior, they ranged from mediocre to good, sometimes bordering on great.

You have to go back to the pre-Lovie years to find a long stretch of suck before the current one (which we thankfully seem to be coming out of).

DaCoaches Mustache

The coach picture with the mustache along with your detailed analysis makes you seem older. I forget you are just a pup. You missed a lot of shitty Bearness my friend.

Post Urlacher was a worse time (for me). Seeing the defense being manned by women was hard to take.

Barbara

Google is paying 97$ per hour,with weekly payouts.You can also avail this.
On tuesday I got a brand new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $11752 this last four weeks..with-out any doubt it’s the most-comfortable job I have ever done .. It Sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
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Tammy

Google is paying 97$ per hour,with weekly payouts.You can also avail this.
On tuesday I got a brand new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $11752 this last four weeks..with-out any doubt it’s the most-comfortable job I have ever done .. It Sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
!db194d:
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leftcoastdave

Pace has fundamentally changed this team and it will only get better. Data points out the obvious which is the result of having a potentially great rookie QB under center looking out at things he never saw before in the form of top level athletes trained and coached to stop whatever he might want to throw at them. Thus the logic of grinding with your strength while opening up the offensive playbook incrementally. Next week should provide a big opportunity to open up the O and we will see what Fox does with that opportunity.

SC Dave

This. So this.

Last week the playbook was more “open” than before. And I expect that to continue week by week.

And as someone pointed out, the defenses we’ve played the past three weeks are pretty good. Even, shockingly enough, the Saints.

Bear Instincts

If we make it to the playoffs do you see us beating the Saints or the Eagles? I will answer for you “NO” regardless of how you open up the playbook. The overall coaching philosophy is conservative and out of touch with the modern NFL. Our strength is not enough to beat well balanced teams or teams with great passing attacks.

SC Dave

Bullshit. We beat Pittsburgh, and don’t be surprised to see them in the Super Bowl this year.

CanadaBear

Looking back on the first half; two biggest surprises were beating Pitt and getting smoked by TB.

Nazis love papa john
aliies fall for the con
his pizza may taste like stale dough
but the culture war done need its foe
papa says please please no
pasty doughboys have got to go
aint seen shit like this since the klan
just hope Trump dont bomb us Iran

Cockney Kirk

Waffle – I got cold feet and missed out on at least another quarter mil

I am sticking pins into my hands today as punishment for being a coward.

It’s all part of the plan

You did the right thing. You had rationale about why a peak was coming. It could have easily dropped off the table. I saw a Disqus add with a picture of a busty model that said Bitcoin was going to 25,000 so there’s that.

Sactowns#1

Is that bubble ever going to burst? Jeesh.

AlbertInTucson

Sigh.

I see the Packers coming to town this week with Brett Hundley at QB and all this old Bear fan can think of is “Don Horn”.

And it seemed like in the 80s and 90s there were a few games when some previously no-name GB RB would rush for 150 against us.

Want to say that was the case with Edgar Bennett and Dorsey Levens (or maybe it was Ryan Grant or Ahmad Green.)

AlbertInTucson

Leven and Green were effective backs.

Edgar Bennett, though…SMH.

His ONLY 100 yard games came against, guess who?

The Bears.

The Bears acquired him and he never saw a 100 yard game again.

SC Dave

Or some no-name-WR-turned-RB gashes us in two games for a total of 222 yards on 25 carries.

CanadaBear

You Bastard!

AlbertInTucson

Admit it. The thought crossed YOUR mind, too.

WP4Life

I’m thinking:

1980 Sunday, December 7 Chicago Bears 61–7 Green Bay Packers.

This was one of my first games.

Cormonster

That was a great game. At a family xmas party that year, my Dad and Uncle got my Grandpa and a different uncle (Packers fans) green shirts with big yellow numbers 61-7 on the front. Still got pictures of that. They were good sports about it and laughed and put them on.

I like the splits of shotgun/under center there. Gonna have to ask where he found those. Looking at 2nd and 3rd down splits with no distance context is fairly meaningless, IMO.

They’re basically ignoring the shotgun run, though, which has been a huge complaint of mine all year.

Bear Instincts

I saw that chucked it up to him trying to support his argument that Fox needs to go. Took it with a grain of salt. Overall it gets the point across.

My argument to get rid of Fox is simple: Past Behavior is the Best Predictor of Future Behavior. He does not trust rookie players in general especially the QB. he is not the man to get us to the promised land. Denver had it all and he still fell short.

SC Dave

Denver did not have it all. Manning was a shell of his former self.

BerwynBomber

I stopped reading once I read that we run 77% of the first down and pick up 4.5 yards a clip.

Yes, Fox is highly conservative. Yes, the play-calling is conservative. But we also have a completely green rookie QB and have faced three of the tougher D’s in the league in recent weeks.

And we also have one of the best primary rushers in the entire league

Much Ado … re: the playcalling debate.

madscout12

So you missed this in the very next phrase:

“””
though it’s worth noting that drops to 3.0 when you remove two Jordan Howard runs of 50+ yards. 12 of those runs (18%) have lost yardage, and 20 gained 1 yard or less (29%). This has left the Bears consistently behind the chains, a problem that we’ll see compound on 2nd and 3rd down.
“””

to be fair, half of Trubisky’s 1st down throws are incompletions, so lots of nothing plays there too.

My bigger issue is with the predictability on 2nd down. Their offense is atrocious on 2nd down because defenses know exactly what’s coming.

BerwynBomber

No, I saw that.

But I’m not a huge fan of discarding big plays when considering YPC averages.

It’s all part of the plan

Bomber, then keep the big runs in there and know that 47% of the runs have gained 1yard or less.

BerwynBomber

Doesn’t matter. We are talking “averages” and just because the 50+ yarders don’t jibe with a narrative they are still counted.

There is a reason coaches harp like hell about not allowing big plays. And one could argue Howard doesn’t pop those 50 yarders without those 1 yarders.

I’d get the playcalling complaint more even if we still had Cutty. But we have a rookie who had one year of major college ball under his belt as well as a second year RB who is probably headed toward his second consecutive Pro Bowl. Pounding Howard makes complete sense if we’re trying to win games.

Plus, none of us have any idea what Bisky is capable of retaining or executing this early in his career.

My suspicion is the playbook opens up as Bisky matures and the defenses we face become softer. In fact, the coming Sunday might be a start.

My undefeated season has ended. Damn you Bears 505! That being said, it took a perfect storm of shit on my roster.

Had to roll with McCown since my Palmer went down.
Had to bench Benji since he got traded and didn’t even suit up, so, ugh, Cooper Kupp time
Bell and Howard on bye.
And for good measure Ertz (the #1TE) decided not to play.

Hats off to Bears 505 though. He had David Johnson and ODB and still is 6-3. Goes to show, can still grind out a season even with INJs.

and Waffle came oooooooh so close to upsetting Ender – Again!

But apparently 6’3 250 fat lesbos can’t lean forward for a yd/td.

thems are the fat lesbo breaks (NTTAWWT).

That is all. Carry on…

Sactowns#1

And I roll to yet another W. Think I’m playing Ender this weekend and he’s looking like he’s catching fire. Fingers crossed ladies!

That was a big win over Shady. He’s always a tough beat cuz, well, he be Shady.

Ender has to be one of the best 2 win teams across FF, so that’ll be a tough match.

And don’t look now, but Willie trying to sneak in on a 2nd half run.

leftcoastdave

All of the talk about predictability causes me to chuckle as play calling is so dependent upon the situation, ie., the score, field position and not the least your available personnel. There were only two games where da Bears were blown out, the early game in the swamp where our bigs were gassed early and the Rogers nightmare. Other than that, we’ve been in every game. That said, Fox gave Mitchell more opportunity to throw when points were needed and the result of 3-5 at the midpoint of the season is beyond the most wild predictions of success, given the schedule.

Now da Bears are “predictable.” Predictable means they have tendencies. D’s anticipate based upon tendencies.

Mitchell is now better learned up just as we have two conference opponents in sight and in need of these two wins to stay alive for the playoffs.

Would it surprise if Fox now used his established “tendencies” against teams the rest of the season as needed?

Tendencies are one thing. But a lot of REAL OC/HCs use them to set up opponents.

Bears never do that. You’d figure with all the runs on 1st and 2nd, there’d be more PAs. But, NOPE.

Here’s one example.

Chiefs ran a jet sweep. First time they handed it off to the streaking Hill. Got like 2-3 yds.
2nd time Smith kept it the shovel passed it to the HB (the LB obviously bit on Hill that play). Went in for an easy TD.

That’s how you set up teams.
The Bears lack that creativity.

And running read-option is not rocket science.

It’s not a 7 step drop post-corner where the QB has to read the safeties, shed the pressure, and drop a dime.

The read-option is so prevalent in college for a reason. It’s EASY!

A QB doesn’t need 3 yrs to perfect it.

Trub can run some of that on crucial downs. As long as he slides, I’m cool with that.

Also, Birdcage did open up the playbook (read with Cohen at goaline – designed draw – some downfield throws) a smidgen, so let’s hope they use the bye to get it all clicking.

madscout12

They ran the read option with Cutler….CUTLER. And they did it to give him a way to easily move the sticks while keeping his turnovers down. Inexcusable for it not to be a part of the offense with Bisky in the second half. I sort of can understand it not being there in the first, because he was running the Glennon O, and you wouldn’t dream of running the RO with that slow poke. But it better be done in the 2nd half.

This should be a shotgun-based offense where a simple run-pass option is a staple play. Gives the defenses something extra to worry about and makes it easier for both Trubisky and the running game to be less predictable.

The two games where the Bears were blown out had everything to do with the QB turning it over on the first several possessions of both games and very little to do with the performance of anybody else on the roster.

leftcoastdave

Yes, but I do not think that contradicts the point I made. Fox has been conservative, to be sure. And wisely so, given what he is working with. He has gone to his strengths while working to develop Mitchell into an NFL quarterback. He certainly was not “game ready” and needed time just taking snaps and handing the ball off while watching how the D gamed him and the O. Anybody expecting better than 3-5 against this competition or a more sophisticated playbook during the first half of the season doesn’t know football.

I’m not asking for a super sophisticated playbook. I’m asking for a playbook that doesn’t completely suck. Just do a bit more to keep the defense off balance. Run out of shotgun. Don’t make run/pass splits so damn obvious based on personnel and/or down and distance. Give your QB some simple read-option and run-pass option plays.

All things that aren’t crazy complicated but make a defense’s job harder.

The thing is that Gase DID run read with Cutler here and there. And it was pretty effective, so it’s not as if it’s completely alien to his underling Birdcage.

In some ways, I can understand McCarthy. Hundley’s been ingesting the system for like 2 yrs. He SHOULD be able to run their system. The fact that he can’t reveals how horrible he really is, and Grimace probably doesn’t want to admit he was wrong and those two yrs were essentially wasted (that’s why he got so pissed when a reporter brought up Kap).

If he’s stubborn, he’ll keep trying to make Hundley into Vadgers.

But I expect eventually he’ll throw in the towel and run some read.

Maybe even this week against the Bears. Hope Fangio is ready for it.

BerwynBomber

Let’s hope they don’t. That is the only way I could see their O being average/effective with Hundley at the helm. Have the kid run a dozen times a game.
One of the drawbacks to RPO is exposing the QB to injury. With someone like Rodgers such a scheme would be counter-productive (on a few different levels) and arguably a fire-able offense.
But Bisky is young and sturdy so it shouldn’t be a huge concern this early in his career. And yes with his legs he would be a true running threat.

Dis Guy Trublinsky

Hundley on the run……. Between Floyd, Amos and the way Fuller is hitting suddenly, that won’t go well.

I just read that King Curtis was murdered on the stoop of his bldg. He was trying to bring in an air conditioner and two drug dealers with arguing on the stoop. He told them to beat it and one of them killed him. 37 years old. Senseless.

FF: If I win the next four and go 7-6, that MAY get me into a playoff.

Barbara

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It’s all part of the plan

I fucking love how you use the English language. Sexy.

Tammy

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